Facepalm: Asus has finally issued a recall of the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero motherboards that users last year reported could catch fire. Just some models are affected by the issue, but if yours is, you should send it in for a free replacement immediately.
If you missed the saga as it unfolded in December, it began something like this: about a dozen users posted photos of their Z690 Heroes with the two MOSFETs above the board’s memory slots burnt-up or melted. After some head scratching on Reddit and YouTube, BuildZoid eventually figured out that the polarized capacitor that fed the MOSFETs was installed backward on some boards.
In the best-case scenario, the MOSFETs or the VRMs they were connected to would fail without fanfare and prevent the board from detecting the installed memory sticks, in turn stopping it from posting, or returning an error code 53.
In the worst-case scenario, the MOSFETs would intake too much current and slowly overheat or suddenly catch fire. Asus said that it received 10 reports of that happening but no reports of injuries. It encouraged affected users to contact customer support and said that it was working on a replacement program…
…and eight months later, that program has sort-of launched. On Thursday, the Consumer Product and Safety Commission (CPSC) announced the voluntary recall of Z690 Heroes with serial numbers starting with MA, MB, and MC.
The CPSC is telling users to stop using their motherboards immediately and to head to asus.com/us/site/recalls to request a free replacement, shipping included. But, if you click that link, you’ll find that Asus’ site redirects you to a blog post about the issue from last year that doesn’t mention the recall. Helpful.
According to the CPSC, there were about 10,000 affected boards sold in-store at Best Buy and Micro Center and online by Amazon and Newegg between October and December last year. They retailed for about $600.
You can check if your Z690 Hero is affected by looking at its serial number and entering it into the Asus checker tool. You can find it on a sticker located on either the top or bottom of the board, or if you’ve got the box handy, it’ll be on a sticker on the side of that. Alternatively, you can watch BuildZoid’s video, and he’ll show you how to check which way the capacitor is installed yourself.
Presumably, Asus is working on a landing page for the recall. Meanwhile, you can get in touch with their customer support or the customer support of wherever you brought it from and get a replacement issued that way.
Masthead credit: SJ (@sjcbrn)